It is sometimes desirable for bedsheets and other top bedding, such as blankets, bedspreads, and the like, to provide additional fabric in the area of for example the user's feet.
Various proposals have been made in the prior art for sheet construction to arrange the configuration of the sheet into a desired form. Depending on the nature of the prior art proposal the sheet construction will provide an expandable sheet for different purposes. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,567,072 to Kay discloses a tubular sheet which fits over a mattress in an "envelope" fashion. U.S. Pat. No. 2,636,191 to Bate discloses a sheet which can be folded to serve as both upper and lower sheets for a narrow bed. U.S. Pat. No. 2,637,860 to Lehigh discloses a compound bed covering. Different layers are sewn together using double-folded edges. U.S. Pat. No. 2,895,146 to Lester discloses a reversible cover for pillows, mattresses or the like. U.S. Pat. No. 3,331,088 to Marquette discloses a blanket with separate panels which can be attached or detached to increase or decrease the thickness and hence the warmth. Special foot panels can have double oppositely-folded pleats but these are not part of the blanket itself. U.S. Pat. No. 3,377,636 to Addario discloses a bedsheet that has cutouts and guidelines enabling pleats to be formed when the bed is being made. The pleats can run longitudinally or transversely. Because the pleats are formed during bedmaking, there is nothing to secure them in place. U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,831 to Clark discloses an "envelope" bedsheet which can be used as either a top sheet or a bottom sheet. It has pockets at the ends but no expansion pleats. U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,308 to Shatz discloses a bottom sheet/top sheet combination, the bottom sheet pocketed to receive a mattress and the top sheet connected to the bottom sheet to a bottom edge and corners. It has no pleats. U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,508 to Ison discloses both a sheet and a blanket with longitudinal pleats which can unfold to provide room for the occupant. There are no transverse pleats. U.S. Pat. No. 2,525,713 to North discloses a sleeping bag for infants and small children.
None of the above references disclose a simple easily constructed pleat extending across the sheet which is adapted to function as a toe pleat and provide expansion capabilities, similar to the sheets of the present invention.
It is desirable, for different uses, to be able to provide a bedsheet or the like with additional sheet material in the bottom or foot area of the sheet and at the same time to be able to arrange the excess material in a very neat manner where it the structure is not likely to be caught by the user when the sheet is in use.